Parenting and Adolescent Anxiety Within Families - A Biweekly Longitudinal Study

This preregistered study examined the associations between parenting practices and generalized anxiety in adolescence. We used mesolongitudinal data from Dutch adolescents (N = 256, Mage = 14.39, 71.5% female) and one of their parents (N = 176, Mage = 46.77, 82% female). DSEM confirmed that families with more intrusiveness and less autonomy support had on average higher levels of anxiety symptoms. Within families, increases in intrusiveness and autonomy support were correlated to increases in adolescents’ anxiety symptoms. Regarding the bidirectional lagged effects, biweekly increases in adolescents’ anxiety predicted, on average, more intrusiveness and less autonomy support two weeks later. Although further studies are needed, these findings highlight the potential negative effects of adolescents’ mental health problems on the parent-adolescent relationship